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Rise of a Hero
Rise of a Hero '''is the first installment of the John Mercury Master series written by JackieFuChan616. It is followed by First Mission Prologue In Timeline 673, the Hero Factory is a well known institution for dealing with evil across the known universe. The Hero Factory uses the latest in bio-genetic engineering to create soldiers of justice known as Heroes. Each one is created with unique powers and abilities, combined with the well known Hero Cores that are necessary for their creation. The cores give them their personality, and is a crucial aspect in making sure that the universe is a safe place. One downside of the Cores is that they require constant recharging. This has a tendency to place a burden on Makuhero City during times of energy crisis. After a major power failure two years prior, Hero Factory scientists started experimenting with new ways to extend the power of a Hero Core and try to make it so it needs to be recharged less and less. Eventually, they developed a new mercury-based solution that could be combined with Quatza in order to create a self recharging core with an almost perfect power loop. Deeming it too dangerous to test on an actual Hero, they decided to place the experimental core on a pilot as a beta test before rolling it out to other Heroes. Soon after, the Core was integrated into a newly created pilot '''JM-127. This pilot proved to be a major controversy in the Hero Factory. Due to his core, he was seen as a freak and treated as an outcast by the other pilots. His core gave him a unique personality, and he longed to join the ranks of the Heroes. He was however shot down by them at every shot he attempted. To compensate for this, he attempted to help the Heroes that he was supposed to be flying too and from their battles. This only made things worse however, as his actions led to two Heroes nearly getting killed. He was given two strikes, if he gets another one he will be deactivated. He is currently transporting Rookie Hero Mark Surge back to Makuhero City from his mission trials on Reta 8. Chapter 1 Setting: Orbit outside of Oriae Asteroid Belt JM-127 is currently flying a hero drop ship that contains Surge. As he flies past Oriae 12, he continues to daydream about being a Hero. He decides to open up the radio channel to Surge's Heropod where a conversation between him and Alpha Leader Preston Stormer is currently taking place. "Mission complete. All trials passed with flying colors. Currently on course for Hero Factory. I bet that as soon as I land, I'll be greeted by a massive welcoming party." "Yeah, yeah rookie. Just don't be surprised if you get scheduled an extra training session later." "Ha Ha Ha Alpha Leader! You really know how to get a guy worked up. I'll see you later" JM-127 listens to the entire conversation and feels frustrated that he can't join in their conversation before turning off the radio. After a few minutes of silence, he turns it back on to speak to Surge. "Surge, could you tell me what it was like during your mission? Please, I just want to know a little bit" "Oh for Pete's sake, will you just let this go already?" "I try to. I really do, but I just can't. I have a Core, why can't I be upgraded to a Hero? I deserve more than anyone." "For the billionth time, YOU ARE A PILOT! You were made a pilot, you are a pilot, you will die a pilot. Regardless of that Core on your body, you are nothing more than an experiment that will be discarded once you run your purpose. Now stop pestering me and keep on flying. "You can try all you want to silence me, but I'm never going to stop trying." "If you don't stop soon, your gonna-" The Drop Ship is suddenly rocked by a massive energy blast. Surge then speaks up. "What was that?" "A massive energy blast just struck our port-side engine. We need to get out of here." JM-127 prepares to increase speed when a second energy blast damages their starboard engine. "Two of our engines are down, I'm going to have make an emergency landing on Oriae 12. Brace yourself Surge, it's going to be a bumpy ride." JM-127 and Surge slowly begin their descent, but the weight of Surge's Heropod begins to cause them to fall at dangerous speed. JM-127 realizes that if he releases Surge's pod now, he may crush it due to free fall. He begins rocking the Dropship so he can release Surge once the ship has turned on its side. "What do you think you're doing you crazy pilot." "If I try to release you now, your pod will be crushed. If I release you sideways, we'll plummet independently and you can use your boosters to get out of here. If I'm correct, you should have just enough fuel to reach Makuhero City. "That just might work, I'll give you a hand." Surge activates his emergency oxygen mask and opens his side hatches. He then begins assisting JM-127 in rocking the Dropship to the side. "Okay Surge, we almost got it, prepare for separation." JM-127 releases the Heropod and it begins to push away from the dropship. Just then, another massive blast strikes the underside of the Dropship. This destroys the third engine and renders both craft unable to fly. Surge's pod begins to plummet away from the Dropship and the dropship begins freefalling with no way to control it. "Surge! Surge, please respond" All JM-127 hears is static. He then sends out an emergency distress signal to the Hero Factory. "Hello, this is Pilot JM-127, in charge of transporting Hero Mark Surge to Hero Factory. While traveling in orbit of Oriae 12, ship attacked by currently unidentified enemy. Ship on crash course. Surge's Heropod severely damaged. Requesting reinforcements and medical team immediately. Over." The Dropship continues to accelerate towards the surface and JM-127 prepares for death. The Dropship strikes some nearby trees then plummets to the ground where everything goes black. *** "JM-127? JM-127 please acknowledge." JM-127 slowly opened his eyes, and realized that he was alive. The radio must have survived the crash and the Hero Factory must have received his distress signal. He grabs the radio and begins speaking. "This is JM-127. I'm receiving your signal." "JM-127, this is Alpha Leader Preston Stormer. Activate the radio's homing beacon so we can got a sense of where you are." JM-127 activates his homing beacon and waits for a few seconds "Okay, we have you're location. Can you see where Surge landed?" JM-127 looks around from the top of a nearby tree and sees smoke in the distance. "I see smoke about half a mile northeast of my location. I believe it's where Surge crashed. I'm gonna head over there and rendezvous with him." "Negative. Chances are that whatever caused you both to crash is most likely there now. Surge can take care of himself, you'll just get in the way. Stay where you are until the reinforcements and medical team you requested arrive. Stormer out." JM-127 drops back down. "(Yeah right. No way I'm just gonna stay here while Surge is where the action is)" JM-127 immediately starts heading through the trees to reach the crash site. He eventually reaches a clearing where he sees Surge battling the villain Thunder. He crouches in some bushes and watches the battle unfold. Surge knocks back Thunder but then gets hit by Thunder's Crusher Claw. Thunder begins to laugh. "Ha, ha, ha, ha. I got you right where I want you Hero. (Takes a pause) You're crashed on a deserted jungle planet, and, your Core has been drained. There is no one here to help you. It's just you and me. By the time I'm done with you, I'll have one less Hero to deal with. Thunder immediately raises his blaster and fires a massive blast at Surge who deflects it right towards where JM-127 is hiding. He jumps out of the bushes to avoid the blast, inadvertently exposing himself to the two combatants. "JM-127?" "Well Well, what have we here? A small dust mite who wishes to be killed along with this miserable Hero. "For your information, I'm a Hero as well." Thunder takes a good look at JM-127 "Ha ha ha ha ha ha. That's a good one. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. You a Hero? That's absurd. I mean look at you. You're thin and scrawny. You are of a different build. Plus, on top of that, you have no weapons." "Some people don't need weapons to fight. (To be honest, big bulky weapons would only weigh me down. I prefer simple weapons and tools)" "Well then lets talk about that Core on your chest. You may have one, but it doesn't glow with the same intensity as other Heroes. To me you seem like some freak experiment. An experiment of pure desire, with no way to fulfill it." "Don't call me a freak you abomination!" "No JM-127, don't-" "I hope you had fun with that sentence, cause it's the last one that you will ever speak." Thunder charges up his weapon and aims it right at JM-127 "(Gotta think fast. Wait, that could work) JM-127 picks up a nearby branch and launches it right at Thunder. It hits Thunder's weapon and causes him to stumble and deflect the blast. "Why you little worm. Now you're in for it." Thunder flies down with Surge in pursuit. He knocks JM-127 over. JM-127 then begins hitting Thunder with another branch. This causes Thunder to elbow him and knock him aside. Surge then begins battling Thunder on the ground. JM-127 sees Surge about to get blasted and jumps to push him out of the way. Much to his surprise, Surge pushes him aside with his free hand. Thunder uses the opportunity to blast Surge, knocking him out in an instant. Thunder then points his weapon close range directly in front of JM-127. "Now you're only chance has been destroyed. Say goodbye, hero." JM-127 looks around to try and find some way to escape, but sees that he's trapped. He finally realizes how way in over his head he was. "(What am I going to do now)" Chapter 2 "Say goodbye, hero." "(Well, I guess this is it. I'm finished)" JM-127 closes his eyes and prepares to be killed. Just then, a massive noise and shadow appears above the battlefield. Thunder looks up and becomes scared. JM-127 realizes that he hasn't been killed, then looks up as well. Up above is a Hero Factory Rescue Ship. Soon after Alpha Team: Preston Stormer, Duncan Bulk, and Jimi Stringer drop down and raise their full-arm weapons towards Thunder. Stormer is the first one to speak up. "Drop your weapon Thunder, you're surrounded." "That's never stopped me before. Now taste dark energy Heroes." Thunder lifts up his weapon and begins charging a massive energy bomb that appears as a black sphere at the end of his blaster. Stormer realizes what it is and gives an order. "Everyone, hit the deck!" Everyone jumps and ducks out of the way of the explosion. Alpha team then stands back up and charges right at Thunder. JM-127 gets up, still a bit dazed from the explosion. He sees the other Heroes fighting, but doesn't join them. He's become too scared from seeing Thunder's weapon pointed right at him. He now sees what the other Heroes were talking about when they said that he didn't have what it took to join them. Thunder realizes that he is losing and decides to launch a blast directly at JM-127. The blast comes directly at him, but he's too ashamed to try and dodge it. The blast hits him directly and knocks him against a nearby tree. While the Heroes run towards him, Thunder uses the opportunity to escape by flying away in his own ship. Stormer uses some power from his core to awaken JM-127. "Medical Team, you are clear to land." The medical ship arrives. Two figures come out and put Surge on a stretcher, then put him on their ship and take off. Stormer then takes out a pair of Hero-cuffs and places them on JM-127, much to his surprise. "JM-127, you are under arrest for disobeying direct orders, selfishly endangering yourself and your superior, and being the direct cause of a life threatening injury sustained by a Hero." JM-127 makes no attempt to resist and accepts his punishment. The Heroes fly their ship back to Makuhero City. As JM-127 is carried off to the Hero Council, he hears that Surge can be saved if a special 8-hour surgery is performed immediately without interruption. He is presented before the Hero Council, where Stormer explains what he has done. The Council discusses it among themselves for a minute, then reaches their decision. "We hereby find the defendant, Pilot JM-127, guilty of all charges. It is this council's decision that he is to be officially deactivated immediately. Let it be known that Project Mercury is to be immediately shut down. Does the defendant have anything to say before we shut him down forever?" "Yes your honor. I will accept my punishment. But let it be known that I did what I did because I believed that I had a real chance at becoming a Hero. I may not have any weapons, nor any skills. But what I do have is a Hero Core. The thing which indicates that a Hero exists inside. I was nothing more than an experiment to test a new way of extending the life of the Hero Core, but I wanted to show everyone that I was more than that. I tried to prove it to myself and everyone else, and I failed. I accept that. But know that I now see what everyone meant when they told me I could never make it with the other Heroes. I am not a Hero, and I never will be." "Very well then. Stormer, deactivate his Core." Stormer then reaches into JM-127's back and deactivates the Hero Core. A stock worker then places him on a trolley and wheels him into a room for scrap and places him against a wall. "What a waste." The worker then closes the door to the scrap room and leaves. A few minutes later, a vortex opens up in the scrap room and a small glowing blue orb moves out of it before it closes. The orb then enters into JM-127 and disappears. JM-127 then immediately awakens, having been reactivated by the orb. With a sudden bout of confidence, he kicks down the door and begins to head for the Assembly Tower. *** "Stormer, we will try to repair Surge. With any luck, he'll make it." Hero Natalie Breez enters. "Oh poor Surge, I really hope he makes it." "He will Rookie, there's nothing anymore that could possibly interfere with the surgery. *** JM-127 slowly slips around corners, constantly avoiding security guards. He eventually slips into the Assembly Tower control room and locks the door behind him. He then knocks out the personnel in the room and heads over to the computer. "Now lets see all Hero Schematic Files." He presses the enter key. "Access denied, files restricted to all those below Level 7 Access." "Great! Now what?" He looks around and notices that the main scientist on the floor has Level 7 Access. He then swipes the Scientist's ID Card into the computer. "Access granted. Opening files." The schematics for creating a Hero appear on the screen. "Activating body scan." A massive beam of energy immediately scans JM-127 and places a digital image of him into the computer. "Scan complete. Awaiting request." JM-127 begins to type a command into the computer. "Re-engineer Body B to match schematics of Body A." "Error, option not permitted." JM-127 looks at the ID tag for any way to unlock the restriction "Requesting permission, Emergency override code 4003." "Code accepted. Procedure will begin in two minutes. Please enter Assembly Tower." JM-127 opens the door to the tower and enters into it. "Oh, this is it, I'm finally going to become a Hero." The Tower activates and the platform JM-127 is on begins to head up so he can be refitted. *** "Alpha Leader. Surge's surgery is going well. If it continues like this, he should be fine." "Excellent, carry on." "Yes sir." Just then, the floor begins to shake and the lights flicker. Stormer becomes nervous. "What was that?" "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this." *** JM-127 is slowly reborn as a true Hero with his body being converted to match all current existing Heroes. When the process is finished, he awakens and jumps for joy. He then grabs a Jetpack and a copy of Surge's Lightning Shooters and Shields and flies out of the factory through a nearby air duct. He swirls in the sky, reveling in his newfound abilities. He then decides to activate his enemy finder and uses it to see that Thunder is currently flying close to Makuhero City. He then uses the Shockers to damage Thunder's jet and cause him to start crashing down towards Makuhero City. JM-127 then begins to head towards the crash site. "Alright, its time for everyone to see what I can really do." Chapter 3 "Emergency alert! Emergency alert! Unidentified vehicle has crashed into lower district. Unidentified figure flying straight for it." "What in the world? Computer, give me access to all security cameras around the lower district. Various images appear in front of Stormer on the screen. One catches the figure flying through the city. "Computer, freeze and enlarge that image." The image is frozen and enlarged 3 times, it becomes clear that the figure is JM-127, much to Stormer's shock. "What, how did he get reactivated, and what in the world did he do to himself. Someone patch me through to him." A few seconds pass, but all they hear is static." "What's wrong? Why can't I talk to him." "It seems that he's turned his radio off and put some kind of security lock on it. I can try to bypass it, but it could take some time." "That's one option we don't have. I'd take my team after them, but we're all due for a recharge following our mission. And as long as Surge is still in surgery, no one can be recharged. But there may still be one option. Contact Natalie Breez. Tell her to suit up and get down to the crash site." "Yes sir." Stormer looks back to the security cameras and begins to think to himself. "(All we can do now is hope for the best. Note to self: Kill JM-127 if he manages to get back in one piece)" *** JM-127 arrives at the crash site. He is able to track Thunder through the cloud of debris and begins to yell. "Come out and show yourself Thunder, it's time for Round 2." The dust begins to clear and shows Thunder aiming his charged weapon directly at JM-127. He blasts, and a startled JM-127 narrowly dodges it. Thunder chuckles at JM-127. "Oh, ho, ho! I thought I'd gotten rid of you, but like a dirty annoying cockroach, you just keep coming back, full of surprises." "I've changed a lot since we last saw each other Thunder. In case you didn't notice, I'm now an official Hero." "It makes no difference to me. It hasn't even been a day since our little encounter. If I was able to easily best a Hero with years of training under his belt, what makes you think you could beat me. You have no training, or skills. From what it seemed, you just rushed out here to face me. I'm not complaining though. But I can'[t allow any other Heroes to intervene." He takes out a strange remote. "What is that?" "Just a little thing I've been planning for awhile now. I was going to use it later, but you seem to have forced my hand. Now I'll make sure no one else has a chance of stopping me. He presses the button on his remote, but nothing happens. Expressing frustration, he presses the button repeatedly without success. "Damn piece of junk." "Now that that's over with, allow me to show you one of my moves." JM-127 raises his right arm and fires an electrical stream at Thunder who quickly dodges it. He then begins to switch arms and rapidly fire multiple electrical streams, switching arms as he does so. Thunder manages to dodge all of them. "All right, no more playing around. Time to finish this." JM-127 points both Shooters at Thunder and fires. Thunder holds out the remote as a shield. When the attack hits the remote, the remote suddenly reactivates. "Well, it seems that it was just out of power. Now I can do this." Thunder presses the button. At the Hero Factory, a virus is released into the mainframe which forcibly activates the failsafe shield and traps everyone in the Hero Factory. Stormer becomes alarmed. "What's going on, why is the failsafe shield up?" "I don't know Alpha Leader, it seems as if some virus was implanted in the mainframe. It must of remained dormant until being activated remotely. Whatever it is, it has activated the failsafe shield. Now nothing can get in or out of the Factory. With the virus active, it seems like we're stuck here until we can find a way around it. "That's not good. Thunder is rampaging in the city, and the only thing in his way is a rogue pilot who's upgraded himself into a Hero. Did Breez make it out before the shield was activated. "Negative, her signal shows that she's still inside the complex. The city will have to deal with what it's got" If we don't fix this soon, there might not be a city left to protect afterwards." *** "Ha ha ha ha ha! Now you're all alone Hero. There's no one else who can help you." "I don't need anyone to help me, I can deal with you by myself." "You haven't even seen the full extent of what I can do. Taste plasma cannon Hero." Thunder fires a massive Energy Ball that follows JM-127." "You can try all you want, but the ball is locked on your energy. No matter where you go, that energy ball will follow you. And when it touches you, it will release an explosion that can shatter a dozen city blocks." JM-127 tries to avoid the ball, but it follows him perfectly and nearly hits him a few times. He then receives a radio call from the Hero Factory. "JM-127? JM-127 do you copy?" "Yes Alpha Leader, I copy." "I want to yell at you for breaking about a dozen regulations, but now is not the time. You're all that stands in Thunder's way. I have a plan to drop the shield, but you need to do exactly what I say. "Got it Alpha Leader. What do I need to do?" "That Plasma Ball will follow you wherever you go, but if you can dodge it for two more hours, we can lift the virus and drop the shield." "Why two hours?" "We've determined that the key to ridding the system of the virus is to perform a full power reset. We'd do it, but Surge's surgery requires another two hours. If we cut the power before then, even for a second, he'll die. Do you think you can continue dodging until then." "I'll do my best Alpha Leader. (Yeah right. If I do that, not only do I risk the city being destroyed, and, I won't be able to prove myself. I need to find some way to end this quickly.)" JM-127 looks around for a solution. "(Wait, that's it. If I can supercharge my Core, I might be able to incapacitate Thunder. If I can manage to get away from this thing for enough time, I can use the power plant to charge myself up.)" "Alright Plasma Ball, take this. Sonic Energy Wave! JM-127 releases a wave of energy that pushes the Plasma Ball back about two miles. He then speeds over the the power plant and connects his hands to the main power lines. The Plasma Ball breaks free of the Energy Wave and begins to race towards JM-127. "Almost there." The Ball gets closer "Just a few more seconds." The Ball is nearly there. "Almost, there, and... Now!" JM-127 leaps up and avoids the Ball. It crashes into the power lines and knocks out the main power to the city. *** The power goes out at the Hero Factory and the backup systems start up. "The backup systems are online. The failsafe shield is down. Breez, get to the crash site, we'll get there as soon as we can." "You got it Alpha Leader." As Breez takes off for JM-127, Stormer heads down to have his Core recharged. *** JM-127 leaps up with his body supercharged. He looks hard at Thunder and prepares to attack. "I now have the power of an entire city inside me. It's time to meet your end Thunder. Now feel the power, of my Electric Comet Cannon!" JM-127 launches a massive electrical beam at Thunder. After Thunder is struck, he charges through the beam and delivers the final blow. Thunder collapses and JM-127 powers down. At that moment, Breez arrives with a squad of Heroes. All of them express immense shock and disbelief at what JM-127 has accomplished. Just then, Breez remembers why she came. "Arrest them both!" *** JM-127 is taken before Alpha Team. "Are you out of your mind. I warned you that we needed two hours. You may have reset the power, and allowed us to purge our mainframe of the virus. But in doing so, Surge's surgery was cut off and as a result, he died. Now a valuable member of our team, and an asset to the factory is dead, and it's all your fault." "It was the only way to take down Thunder and save the city. If I had stalled any longer, he may have used the opportunity to destroy the city." "Thunder may be strong, but he isn't very bright. He would've been too distracted watching you to think up a plan like that. In any case, within the past day you've broken about 20 regulations, and caused the death of a Hero. This time, we're going to shut you down for good." Alpha Team and Breez surround JM-127. Before they can get to him, a voice calls out from the doorway. "Wait a minute." Everyone in the room turns to the door. They are all surprised to see Mr. Makuro, the founder of the Hero Factory, standing there. "Everyone just calm down." "Mr. Makuro, this pilot's actions have led to the death of Hero Mark Surge. He is a danger that needs to be shutdown for good this time." "You are all forgetting a few things. Despite causing Surge's death, it was unintentional. He merely thought of a way to defeat Thunder, and it succeeded. Whatever happened, in the long run he stopped Thunder's plan, defeated him, and saved the city from destruction. Like a wise man once said, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Might I all remind you who that wise man was?" All the Heroes speak simultaneously. "You." "Exactly. Plus, from what I've seen, he somehow managed to upgrade himself to match all of you. You're going to need a new Hero now that Surge is gone. He's always wanted to be one, I say give him a chance." "But sir." "But nothing, I want this done, and I want you to train him Breez." "What? Why me?" "Despite still being called a rookie, I have noticed for quite some time that your skills are on par with that of Alpha Team. I believe that now you can make use of your skills in training this new Hero." "Alright Mr. Makuro, I accept your request." "Excellent. Now Stormer, I know that you have generally steered clear of rookies since the Von Ness incident, but I want you to try to take a closer approach to this one." "Why?" "Because I can tell he has potential. He was able to upgrade himself into a Hero and defeat a Class III villain, all without any formal training. If he trains, who knows what he could do. He may even be worthy of succeeding you one day." Stormer sits in thought for a few seconds. "Alright. I'll help along with his training." He quickly looks toward JM-127. "But mess up one more time, and I'll destroy you personally." "Okay, now that that's all settled, it is time for him to pick a name. Follow me please." JM-127 follows Mr. Makuro across the room to a hand scanner. "Now, place your hand on the scanner. The machine will scan your mind and give you a name that matches your personality. JM-127 places his hand on the scanner and it scans him. "Alright, from now on, you are officially a Hero. One with the name-" "JOHN MERCURY MASTER" "Welcome aboard, John Mercury Master." To Be Continued... Hope you enjoyed my story. Be sure to comment on the corresponding blog page and stick around for more coming soon Trivia * Although the basic premise of John Mercury Master taking Surge's place was established from the time Master was originally created, it wasn't until almost three years later that this definitive origin story was created. In doing so, the original pitch that had Master selfishly trick Surge into traveling to an unknown planet and killing him to achieve the Hero transformation was discarded due to this not fitting with a Hero personality * The concept of a pilot wanting to become a Hero originated after JackieFuChan616 saw the silver blank core piece on the pilot for the Hero Factory Drop Ship set. * The name John Mercury Master was taken from a Hero Recon Team member that JackieFuChan616 designed in 2012. This was the same year he got the dropship set Category:Stories Category:User:JackieFuChan616